


Teddy Bear

by HanEunSeom



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Famous, Alternate Universe - Not K-Pop Idols, Both of them deserve better actually, Coffee Shops, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Hardworking Kihyun, How Do I Tag, Hurt/Comfort, I Ship It, I liked writing this actually, Italy, Kihyun likes to take photos, Love at first sight but not really, M/M, Probably the prequel of a heavy and angsty long fic, Rome - Freeform, Shady (kinda) Hyunwoo, Showki, So fluffy ??, Strangers to Friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-17
Updated: 2018-02-17
Packaged: 2019-03-20 11:15:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13716531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HanEunSeom/pseuds/HanEunSeom
Summary: Kihyun was enjoying his last vacation days in Rome when a stranger bumped into him and made him buy something he didn’t want to.Upon meeting the man at a cafe, his anger was flushed away; the man had clearly been crying.And, just like that, Kihyun felt the uncontrollable need to comfort that stranger that really reminded him of his Teddy Bear.-Or when Kihyun meets a handsome Korean man in Italy and gives him a shattered rose.





	Teddy Bear

**Author's Note:**

> I suck so much at writing summaries, I'm so sorry.

It was that kind of weird day.

Everyone was wearing tons of layers of clothes and their breaths condensate, but the Sun light would still illuminate the old buildings and the crowded streets.

He tightened his grip around his camera. How could a place be so agitated and yet make him feel in peace? The morning air was always the coldest, but to him that wasn't a bother. He loved it. In Rome, everything was more pleasant… a little happier and it didn’t matter how cold it was. It was perfect.

His vacations would soon end and Kihyun had the impression that those seven days spent in Italy went by as fast as a bullet train. Even though he tried to not think about it and not worry too much about his return and how close it was, he couldn't help but to whimper with the thought that he would soon have to be behind a desk in that stuffy office and his awful boss.

The job paid well, but it made him so miserable.

He thought countless times of quitting it, but the need for money was holding him back. Even the trip he was currently enjoying was a prize and not something he managed to earn alone. He couldn’t even think what would happen to his life if he quit that job.

Kihyun sighed and observed his breath turn white.

He walked with slow steps, observing for the fifth time that week the colorful awnings and the details of the ancient architecture. He found everything in that town beautiful; Kihyun wanted to take photos of every single thing (even though he literally had already taken).

It could be easily said that the atmosphere of Rome was completely different from what he was used to, and that wrapped him almost like a warm blanket in a harsh winter: cozy, protective, peaceful.

Walking without a direction, stopping to eat something, taking a deep breath whenever he wanted… all of that was possible in Rome and, without any surprise, spending his time there was a marvelous escape valve. The daily and intense stress exhausted him, especially because he was not working in what he loved.

He looked a little nostalgic to the camera in his hands, remembering the time he could be in the streets of Seoul for hours just taking pictures of everything he saw; Kihyun wanted to go back in time and choose the right college course - even if he wouldn’t make money with it. At least, he would be able to have a happy life and not only happy moments.

Suddenly, his feet stopped in front of a flower shop and he inhaled the mixture of scents. He saw a rose and was touching its petals gently when someone rudely bumped into him.

He let out a small painful moan, turned around and glared at the person’s direction. The only thing he saw, however, was a dark mass of hair, large shoulders covered by a heavy brown coat putting more and more distance between them in an amazing speed.

“Where is he going in such a hurry?” he frowned and sighed. “Well, it doesn’t matter anymore.”

He took a step back, ready to continue his walk when his eyes met the attendant of the flower shop. Kihyun blinked a little confused until he looked at the rose on his hand.

That collision had made him clench his fingers and now the rose was crumbled and hurt inside his hand.

“Do I have to pay…?” he asked with a poor, but intelligible Italian. The woman looked at him like that was obvious and he held a sigh, muttering in his breath, “great.”

After paying for a shattered rose, he started walking again with the flower in hands. With cold eyes, he stared at the poor rose. He knew it wasn’t the flower’s fault (it was actually a victim) but he kept glaring at it.

Kihyun was mildly annoyed with the situation for a while before he decided that this occurrence wouldn’t ruin his day.

Kihyun entered in the first cafe he saw and didn’t notice the looks he received through all the way (looks from people finding weird to see a grown-ass man staring at a ruined rose).

The place had the typical Italian atmosphere and the music was clearly in the local language; he couldn’t understand much, but he still thought it was beautiful. Kihyun walked towards the counter and ordered a simple cup of coffee with some cream to go with his broken Italian.

The lady said it would be done in a minute and gave him a reassuring smile; he smiled back and bowed slightly (he tried to not bow when he arrived, but the gesture was too automatic for him).

He turned to observe the rustic and comfortable decoration of the place. Leaning a little on the counter, Kihyun took his camera in hands and led it to his eyes to snap a quick picture of all the people there.

However, his fingers stopped when he saw that same brown coat and large shoulders. The rose in his hands reminded him of the fresh event and he frowned. Kihyun’s heart raced and, out of the blue, he decided to make a complaint to the man; maybe tell him a thing or two about education.

Yes, maybe he had forgotten he wasn’t in Korea and the possibility that the other person would understand him was tiny. He just went for it.

Walking with strong steps, he slowly noticed that something was wrong.

As he was getting closer, he realized that the man’s large shoulders were shaking a little. _He isn’t crying, is he?_ Kihyun made a curve and stood right in front of the man. No, he was not crying. Kihyun took a step back when the other suddenly looked at him.

Kihyun could notice the Korean features in the man’s face, but, still, he couldn’t just assume that he was actually Korean, right? However, his mouth moved on its own and the shy “hello” came out in his native language automatically.

It took him some seconds to understand what he had just said, but it was a little late and - crazily - the boy seemed to understand what he said as he bowed his head a little.

They exchanged looks for some seconds, unsure of what to do. Even though the bigger man wasn’t crying, his face was covered with the marks of tears and his small eyes were painfully puffy. His face strangely reminded Kihyun of a very sad teddy bear and he suddenly couldn’t stop staring as he noticed the similarities between the actual man sitting in front of him and Mr. Teddy, his teddy bear that was sitting on the hotel bed by this time.

As if the circumstance couldn’t get any more embarrassing - with all the staring and stuff - the older man quickly ran his hand through his face to half-heartedly erase the tear stains.

Kihyun had no idea of what to say and even though it was probably better to just bow again and leave, he felt bad for the man. He was definitely not annoyed anymore at the other’s supposed ignorance from moments earlier. In fact, his heart was clenching with the will of hugging all that sadness away.

He didn’t do that clearly.

What he did was maybe worse.

Kihyun held the rose and offered it to him. The man’s eyes widened in pure shock.

“Yoo Kihyun,” he said with a small smile. “That’s, uh, my name.”

He grabbed the rose hesitantly. Kihyun sighed, a little relieved, and the man in front of him quirked an eyebrow. Maybe he was confused by the whole situation, but really? Who wouldn’t be? Kihyun looked at the floor. He thought he would be dismissed as a weird, rose-giving, stranger – after all, that’s kind of what he was. It would make sense if that happened.

His heart didn’t seem happy at the perspective of leaving, though.

“Son Hyunwoo.” Kihyun jolted a little at the sound of the other’s voice as he looked up to meet his eyes. The man had a small, timid smile that warmed his heart (and his cheeks). Kihyun felt like he was on cloud nine, which is pretty stupid. Why was he so happy to have a stranger talking to him? Kihyun couldn’t stop himself from thinking the man’s smile was like his Teddy Bear. “Thank you.”

“Uh... yeah. No worries,” he stuttered. Kihyun wrapped his fingers around his camera unconsciously.

Now, what? He needed to say something – _anything_ – to make the situation less awkward. “Before you, um, think I’m a creepy dude because I’m giving this rose to you and whatever, I just- I just want to say that I hope everything gets better for you.”

Yes, Kihyun. Great job at not looking creepy.

Hyunwoo smiled nonetheless. His eyes almost disappeared. It looked really cute, Kihyun noticed.

“You don’t even know what happened,” he commented in a small voice. He didn’t sound annoyed, fortunately.

“I don’t… I don’t need to know what happened to wish for you to be okay, Son Hyunwoo-ssi.”

That didn’t come out as Kihyun had planned and the surprised gaze from Hyunwoo made him want to curl into a ball and roll out of the cafe, but the other’s eyes became smaller as he smile widened up. Kihyun gulped down and his lips curved up. He was effectively trying to ignore his fastening heartbeat when a waitress came and rested Hyunwoo’s coffee on the table. She directed a polite smile to both and they bowed lightly.

Kihyun changed the weight of his body of one feet to the other and there was an uncomfortable silence for some seconds. He felt like he should leave. Kihyun already talked to that beautiful man, made thousands of mental comparisons relating him and his precious Teddy Bear and resisted the urge of taking a picture of him. Kihyun thought he should leave before he did something else he would be ashamed of.

But as soon as he bowed to the man and said a hushed good bye, Kihyun felt large and warm fingers hold his wrist. His heart skipped at least twenty beats (maybe that’s too much, but that’s how he felt like).

“Why don’t you… sit here?” Hyunwoo’s voice was so unbelievable deep. “I could use the company. If you, uh, if you don’t mind?” He was still holding the shattered rose, looking a little pleading. How could he deny that? Kihyun nodded once and Hyunwoo smiled shyly again. “Thanks.”

Kihyun grabbed his own coffee and headed to the table again.

They sat in silence for a couple of minutes, sipping on their coffees and awkwardly using their smartphones. Until Kihyun, not bearing the silence anymore, leaned in, putting his camera and resting his forearms on the table.

Hyunwoo looked at him curiously, waiting for what he would say.

“How,” he started hesitantly, “would you feel if I said I’ve seen you before?”

That was not what he was expecting. Hyunwoo frowned. “Have you seen me before? Where?”

“No, that’s not the question,” he said, whining a little and Hyunwoo may or may not have found that cute. “Now, how would you feel?”

“If you’ve seen me before?” Kihyun nodded. “I don’t know…? I guess, in our current situation, I would like to know where you’ve seen me before and what was I doing but – I guess, I would feel nice. I think maybe something like…” he seemed to not want to say something, but ended up saying it nonetheless. “Maybe something like destiny? Something like destiny wanted us to meet…” he shrugged, looking _extremely_ uncomfortable. Kihyun couldn’t help his smile. “But, um, is this hypothetical or real?”

“Real,” Kihyun answered and Hyunwoo arched both eyebrows. Kihyun didn’t want to tell Hyunwoo that he had bumped into him and made him buy a shattered flower, so he decided to stick with his other plan. “My Teddy Bear looks exactly like you.”

Son Hyunwoo literally spilt his coffee.

The liquid fell mostly on the table, but some drops hit the pale cheeks of the man in front of him. Kihyun made a disgusted expression, but started to laugh at Hyunwoo desperately giving him napkins and almost kneeling to beg for forgiveness.

“Hey, hey! You can stop now! It’s mostly my fault anyway,” he exclaimed, still laughing out loud.

Hyunwoo really stopped, but not because Kihyun asked.

Hyunwoo was stunned but the sound of the other’s laughter. It was probably one of the most beautiful things he had ever heard. It made his eyes go wide and the external sounds of the cafe disappear. He wanted to do more things to keep Kihyun laughing.

Suddenly, the reason for his uncontrollable, public crying wasn’t that bad. And suddenly, his heartbeat seemed to have admitted 180bpm as its regular rhythm.

“I mean… your eyes, your mouth and your general expression really remind me of my Teddy Bear and thought it’d be funny to tell you that,” he continued with a smile on his face. “But I didn’t think your reaction would be like this. Better than expected, really.”

Hyunwoo’s cheeks reddened lightly and his eyes fell to the table. Before he could say anything, his smartphone beep. Kihyun observed Hyunwoo open some notification and the cute red of his cheeks disappeared immediately.

Hyunwoo murmured that he had to leave and his voice was so restless that Kihyun’s heart almost broke in a million pieces right there.

He had to say something. _Anything._

“I’m going back to Seoul in a couple of days! Maybe we… we could meet there? I mean, I don’t even know if you live in Seoul, but we could see each other someday… right?”

His hands were so _not_ shaking.

Especially when it took Hyunwoo ten long seconds to react to what he had said.

“Uh- yeah! Sure,” he finally said, stuttering. “I could, um, have your phone number?”

Both were so incredibly uncomfortable that even the whole café, without understanding a word of what they were speaking, was watching the scene. They were too focused on each other to notice the stares, though.

They exchanged numbers. “Call me when you get to Korea… and, um, good luck.”

Hyunwoo nodded, thanking Kihyun for the wish, but he didn’t leave the table. Hyunwoo inhaled deeply and Kihyun tilted his head to the side. He wanted to say something else?

“How… how would you feel if I called you to talk about other things…?”

Kihyun tried to not look too surprised. He wasn’t the best at acting, though.

“Like – like what?”

“I… I don’t know, I just…” seeing that grown up man all embarrassed was one of the scenes Kihyun wanted to remember forever. He thought that maybe not even a thousand of photos would be able to eternalize that moment completely. “You know what? Just never mind what I said. I’m going to go now.”

Hyunwoo stood up and turned his back to him. He would have left the place running if Kihyun hadn’t grabbed his wrist. Hyunwoo turned slowly to him and Kihyun clicked his tongue, faking a disappointed tone.

“Hyunwoo-ssi, you have to say, ‘that was not the question’ and insist when you want the answer for something. That’s how things work.” Kihyun released his grip and let his hand slide on the other’s hand before backing off. Kihyun would certainly deny to anyone that a chill ran down his spine when he did that. “But I say that I would be okay to talk about… other things. Maybe I would be pretty happy.”

“Why?” Hyunwoo’s stunned voice made him smile.

“Because you look like my Teddy Bear. And my Teddy Bear is my favorite thing in the world.”

In that moment, Hyunwoo thought that if his life didn’t kill him, then Kihyun’s smile would.

“Now… how do you feel about _that_?”

Hyunwoo bit his lower lip. How rude can that man be?

“Good…”

“I feel good.”

He really felt good.

**Author's Note:**

> That's it, just cutesy stuff. For now at least. Thanks for reading! Leave kudos if you liked ^^


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